The luster of the cathartic 2006 season had long since worn off. The heat was rising on the Saints' third-year coach, Sean Payton.

In a conversation in the press box before the Saints' 30-20 victory in Kansas City, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis said he was convinced the club had the right leaders in place, even if the won-loss record didn't show it at the time.

"We can win a Super Bowl with Sean Payton and Drew Brees," Loomis said that day.

"I had a real strong conviction that this guy was not just a good coach but a great coach," Loomis said.

As always, Loomis kept the financial terms of Payton's contract extension private, but rest assured it's commensurate with the elite head coaches in the league. It's likely similar to the deal Mike McCarthy signed in Green Bay earlier this year, which reportedly pays the Packers' head coach between $5 million and $5.25 million a year.

That's more than Tom Benson ever dreamed he'd pay a head coach when he bought the team back in 1985, but Payton has justified the investment. He's done more with less than any coach in the league today.

When Payton took over the Saints in 2006, no one knew what the future held for New Orleans, much less its pro football team. Somehow he convinced players and coaches to join him on the improbable journey. The story they wrote will go down as one of the most compelling in NFL history.

The Saints have enjoyed unprecedented success in Payton's five-year tenure. In that span, the Saints have been the most successful team in the NFC with a glitzy 53-33 mark (including postseason) and have quadrupled the franchise's postseason win total during the pre-Payton years.

While Payton's most recognizable achievement sits on display in a glass case in the lobby at the team facility, it's personified in the 53 locker stalls down the hallway from the trophy case.

The Saints don't just win. They win the right way. The locker room culture, which Payton maintains daily, is recognized as one of the best in the league. Saints players rarely if ever find trouble off the field. Moreover, they have embraced the community and loyal fan base, becoming a model for other clubs.

"Each year you see six or seven head coaches that are out of jobs, and so we've started, awhile back, in 2006 in trying to build something that was consistent, trying to build a program," Payton said. "That's something that really never stops. You don't ever really arrive."

Payton knows as well as anyone his deal ensures nothing. One of his best friends in the business, Jon Gruden, won a Super Bowl in 2003, signed a mega-contract extension in 2008 and was fired a few months later. Mike Shanahan and Brian Billick also won Super Bowls and eventually received pink slips.

"It's a performance-based business," Payton said Monday. "Our jobs as coaches, our jobs as front office people, and our jobs as players are to be competitive and win."

For the foreseeable future, the Saints appear to be on solid ground. They're as stable as any organization in the league. In fact, the Saints now are the only NFL team to have the same head coach, general manager and quarterback in place for the past six years.

Monday's agreement ensures the continuity will continue, assuming, of course, the club locks up Drew Brees to a long-term agreement soon. With Payton's deal done, Brees moves to the front of Loomis' priority list. And by all indications, the historic contract is strictly a matter of time.

Payton kidded recently that he'll be around "as long as Brees is here," so don't be surprised if the quarterback's deal runs concurrently with the head coach's. The fate of the organization is tied to the pair. As long as they're here, the fabled window of opportunity to win a title remains open. Just like Loomis predicted they would three years ago.

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Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3404.